Dawn of democracy in Myanmar with new prez

Aung Saan Suu Kyi's aide was sworn in as Myanmar president in historic power shift

Naypyidaw: Myanmar entered a new era yesterday as Aung San Suu Kyi’s democracy movement took power after 50 years of military domination, with a close aide of the Nobel Laureate sworn in as president.

Myanmar's new president, Htin Kyaw (L), and foreign minister Aung San Suu Kyi (C), arrive with Lower House Speaker Win Myint (R) for the swearing-in ceremony at the parliament in Naypyidaw yesterday. Pic/AFP

Htin Kyaw, a school friend and confidante of the democracy champion, succeeds former general Thein Sein who has helmed reforms that have transformed Myanmar from hermit state to an unexpected political and economic hope story.

Suu Kyi, 70, is barred from becoming president by the junta-scripted The handover at the junta-built parliament in the capital Naypyidaw marks the final act of a prolonged transition since Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party swept the November elections. The NLD won 80 per cent of parliamentary seats, handing them a massive public mandate to rule. They are tasked with reviving a battered economy and a society straitjacketed by the army, which has ruthlessly ruled since 1962.

The bespectacled new president pledged to be “faithful to the people of the republic of the union of Myanmar”. “I will uphold and abide by the constitution and its laws. I will carry out my responsibilities uprightly and to the best of my ability,” the 69-year-old told the chamber.

In a later ceremony at the presidential palace, Thein Sein symbolically handed over to his successor as a smiling Suu Kyi looked on. But the army is far from leaving the political scene. The military holds a quarter of all parliamentary seats, a gift of a constitution it scripted, and holds three key posts in the cabinet.